1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a sound output apparatus and a method of manufacturing a grille for the apparatus.
2. Background
Various apparatuses for outputting sound are known. The apparatuses (hereinafter, referred to as “sound output apparatuses”) may store various kinds of sound data, such as music, recording, notification, and sound effects, in a digitalized form, and may convert and play back the stored date according to programs included in the sound output apparatuses. The sound output apparatuses may receive the sound data via on wired data transmission using Ethernet or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections or via wireless data transmission using a communication technology, such as WiFi® or Bluetooth®.
In addition to receiving the sound data from an external resource via a wired/wireless communication module, the sound output apparatuses may establish data communications or a network to communicate with surrounding devices. In one example, the sound output apparatuses may be connected via the network to an Access Point (AP) that provides access to the Internet.
Electronic appliances, such as a washing machine, a refrigerator, or an air conditioner, may be connected via wired/wireless connections to the AP coupled to Internet, and the appliances may access the Internet through the AP to exchange data with remote devices. Also, a terminal device, such as a smart phone, tablet computer, or personal computer, may share information with the appliances through the AP or via the data connections.
Coupling an appliance to a terminal may provide limited functionality because only certain types of information may be available from the appliances. For example, when connected to a refrigerator, the terminal can typically only access limited information collected by sensors installed in or coupled to the refrigerator (i.e., an internal temperature sensor). Consequently, the terminal may have limited ability to collect information regarding external conditions (e.g., ambient external temperature and humidity levels, a status of nearby devices, usage of other devices by a user, the location of the user, etc.) and optimize the control of the appliance in view of these eternal conditions. Technology related to the Internet of Things (IoT) may be used to interconnect various devices and sensors (i.e., “things”) via wired/wireless connections to allow the things to share information. The IoT technology adds, for example, communication and sensor functionality to various devices so that the devices may exchange information and/or be controlled based on the shared information.
An apparatus (i.e., a hub) that may integrate and manage appliances or other device within the diversified network environments and to communicate with users based on the information from the appliances is desired.
The sound output apparatuses may include speakers to generate sound and may position the speakers behind a grille to protect the speakers from contact and to improve the appearance of the sound output apparatuses. If the grille has an elliptical shape, the shape of the grille may be difficult to maintain because of elasticity and restoring force of the material used to form the grille.